Freezer storage and warehousing is one of the biggest arms of logistics and warehousing services. This highly specialized service deals with delicate and highly perishable goods that must be kept within a certain temperature threshold to remain viable. Businesses that need such services, whether for food, pharmaceuticals, or chemicals, understand the importance of maintaining the cold storage chain. This requirement and the potential of heavy losses often make selecting the right provider a hassle. Are you looking for freezer warehousing? Fripp Warehousing has got you covered.
But what happens when Fripp Warehousing doesn’t cover your area? Then you should know the important factors to look for in a freezer warehousing service provider before signing the dotted lines. This article covers everything you should know to improve your selection and storage experience.
Table of Contents
Determine Your Specific Needs
As a business owner, it is important for you to understand your specific needs and how you want those needs met. For example, there is a huge difference between frozen, refrigerated, and dry storage needs. Choosing the wrong type of storage solution can compromise your product’s quality and amount to losses.
Refrigerated storage is perfect for items like milk and fresh fruits that require optimal fridge temperatures to remain healthy and safe. But while refrigerated storage is perfect for those, its details are a bit different for storing fresh meat like chicken wings. This means you must know the perfect temperature for your product and its storage needs.
Products that do not require climate-controlled environments can be dry stored. It is, however, important to note that humidity plays a significant role in dry storage. High humidity levels can affect goods that have been dry stored, and this may compromise their quality.
Consider Customer Service
Businesses and brands understand the power a customer wields. They understand that customers can refuse them the attention required to make sales and generate revenue. To that extent, they take precautions to ensure that they remain in their customer’s good books.
As a business owner, you are also a customer of some vendors and businesses, including your freezer warehousing service provider. With that in mind, you need to demand premium treatment from the company you’re paying to serve your needs.
As part of the selection process, pay attention to the freezer warehousing company’s customer service and how flexible they are around accommodating your needs. Ensure that you’re completely confident and happy with how the service provider communicates, how helpful they are in addressing your concerns, and how willing they are to make you happy.
Consider The Provider’s Visibility
Inventory and inventory management are two important parts of a business. A proper inventory record can help you understand your demand and production requirements. It can also create data points for improving your operations. On the other hand, inventory management helps to keep your customers happy while protecting you from overproduction or oversupplies.
Before selecting a freezer warehousing service provider, consider how they manage inventory and how visible your offsite inventory will be. The right provider will have an open, updated, and transparent reporting process that can be integrated into your existing system. This is essential to maintain a free flow of supply from your production plant to the warehouse and storage department. It can also help you to take stock of order processing and fulfillment.
Consider Transportation
Seeing as you will be leveraging offsite storage and warehousing solution, it is best to consider how your goods will be transported from its production plant to the freezer warehouse. The perfect transportation pipeline is one that ensures a smooth transition at each stage of the logistic channel without breaking the cold chain.
You should speak to the freezer warehousing service provider about your transportation needs and work out the perfect logistics on how your goods will be moved from origin to destination. Ensure that you are comfortable with the transportation solution proposed and ask for GPS tracking or monitoring solutions to stay up to date on your shipment’s location.
Packaging and Labeling
Freezer storage and warehousing products are available in different forms and options. This means that each product will require a specific form of packaging and labeling to meet its specific needs. It is important to discuss the nitty gritty of your packing, packaging, and labeling needs with the service provider before signing the dotted lines. Knowing they can handle this important aspect can significantly improve your business operation and customer satisfaction.
Sanitation and Security
How safe, clean, and secure the freezer storage facility is should also be considered. The provider should offer a safe and secure environment with the latest security technology, human patrol guards, and trained staff. You also want to ensure that the provider has the right health and safety certificates and has met the sanitation benchmark.
